MMA News

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2019

There is no question the emotions were running high for Ilima-Lei MacFarlane’s last fight. MacFarlane got to defend her Bellator flyweight title at home in Hawaii where she defeated Valerie Letourneau in the third-round by submission. The win capped off an emotional fight week for MacFarlane. Now, she is set for yet another title defense this Saturday when she takes on Veta Arteaga at Bellator 220 in San Jose, California. Although Hawaii was MacFarlane’s real homecoming, she lives and trains in California which makes this yet another fight ‘at home’.

Cole Shelton - April 22, 2019

Max Holloway was looking to become a two division champion at UFC 236. The featherweight king was moving up in weight to take on 155-pound contender Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight championship. Ultimately, Poirier beat Holloway by unanimous decision to snap the Hawaiian’s 13-fight winning streak. Although Holloway lost, he had some good moments in the fight, but many thought the size discrepancy between he and Poirier played a huge factor. However, MMA coach, Firas Zahabi believes Dustin Poirier simply fought a smarter fight, which resulted in him getting the win.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

When Thiago Santos knocked out Jan Blachowicz at UFC Prague, he earned a light heavyweight title fight with seemingly unbeatable champion Jon Jones. Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who is now scheduled to battle Blachowicz at UFC 239, is hoping that a similar performance will earn him his own fight with Jones. “Thiago Santos just got a world title fight after beating Jan Blachowicz, so I figure if I go out there and put a performance on him, what’s to deny me?” Rockhold said on a recent episode of Submission Radio (transcript via MMA Weekly). “I mean, what else is there? These guys are scouring around, not taking fights. So I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna perform and do my job, and then I’m gonna let the chips fall where they may.”

Mike Straus - April 22, 2019

UFC St. Petersburg is in the books. Seven Russian fighters got their hand raised and a familiar heavyweight contender cemented his position in the ranks. The second trip to Russia proved beneficial for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The fights were entertaining with more than half of the 11 fights scheduled ending in a finish.

James Lynch - April 22, 2019

Maycee Barber has her next opponent in mind but isn’t confident it will happen The undefeated 20-year-old is currently recovering from a broken thumb, but spoke to Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour and explained why Paige VanZant would be an ideal next opponent.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

TJ Dillashaw is no longer the UFC bantamweight champion. He surrendered that title when he tested positive for EPO, an injectable-only performance-enhancing drug, and was suspended for two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Many members of the MMA community were shocked to learn of Dillashaw’s PED use. But not everybody.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

Shortly after Roxanne Modafferi defeated Antonina Shevchenko at UFC St. Petersburg on Saturday, she made a callout of former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg — though she quickly added that she was only joking. On Sunday, Cyborg responded to this callout from Roxanne Modafferi — first assuring the flyweight contender wanted no part of the matchup, then congratulating her on her big win.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

Back in January, UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo conquered a supremely tough test in former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, who he knocked out in less than a minute. His next challenge will come in the form of Brazil’s Marlon Moraes, who he’ll meet for the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

Over the weekend, in the main event of UFC St. Petersburg, Russian heavyweight contender Alexey Oleynik stepped into the Octagon with former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Oleynik had some moments of success in this brief but thrilling encounter. Yet in the end, he came up short, succumbing to a storm of Overeem strikes late in the first round.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was not happy with the lack of promotion for Saturday’s UFC event in St. Petersburg, Russia. The undefeated Russian, Khabib, said he would like to see the promotion adapt a new policy, one which would pay attention to his countries fighters.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

UFC President Dana White took to Instagram earlier today where he wished fight fans a Happy Easter while posting a hilarious photo of Brian Ortega. As seen below, the UFC boss pictated the recent featherweight title challenger, Ortega, as Jesus Christ.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva believes that reigning light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones has done more good than bad for the sport of MMA. Like Jones, Silva has had issues with drug testing in the past, which has caused some fans and analysts to question each fighters legacy.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

It is becoming very clear that current interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and surging contender Paulo Costa do not like each other. Following his thrilling five round decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, Adesanya was targeted by Costa in a social media post.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till has reportedly been arrested in Tenerife for allegedly trashing a hotel and stealing a taxi. Till, who is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal, is said to have been stopped by police after jumping into a cab and speeding off as the driver was handling luggage.

Drake Riggs - April 21, 2019

RIZIN 15 went down on Sunday morning for those stateside and it acted as the first RIZIN event of 2019. In the first MMA bout of the night, top strawweight prospect, Kanako Murata made her return to the RIZIN ring on short notice to take on Mexico’s Saray Orozco at flyweight.

Drake Riggs - April 20, 2019

RIZIN 15 is the first RIZIN event of 2019 and as per usual it looks to be a great one. Stars return and a new champion will be crowned. In the main event, we will see the first ever RIZIN light heavyweight champion be decided when Bellator’s “King Mo” Muhammad Lawal returns to the ring to try and once again pick up a win over the red-hot Czech, Jiri Prochazka.

Chris Taylor - April 20, 2019

Former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem picked up another first round finish at today’s UFC event in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Overeem took on submission specialist Aleksei Oleinik in the headliner of today’s UFC event. After a shaky start, “The Reem” would turn the tide with the utilization of some nasty knees which eventually caused Oleinik to hit the canvas. From there, Overeem would deliver some solid ground and pound which forced the referee to step in and call a stop to the contest.

Chris Taylor - April 20, 2019

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor competed in a boxing match this weekend in Dublin, Ireland. The bout marked the first time that fans have had a chance to see McGregor compete since his submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 this past October.